Be it known therefore unto you that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it. Acts 28:28
The book of Genesis has an interesting division that begins at the call of Abram. Before this call, God’s dealings were with whatever faithful people He found. After the call of Abram, God’s dealings were with the line of Abram/Abraham almost exclusively. There were exceptions such as Melchisedek and righteous Lot, but the entire program of God centred on the patriarchs and the children of Israel. Apart from individual proselytes who came along, the Gentiles were shut out from the program that God had for His earthly people. The Gentiles knew nothing and cared nothing about the law, the ordinances of the tabernacle and temple, and the blessings that God had for the Israelites. That stark division between Jew and Gentile persisted until Pentecost. After Pentecost, it took a little while for the Gospel to become a message for the Gentiles, even though the Lord Jesus had declared in His great commission that the disciples were to take it to the whole world (among all nations Luke 24:47). Today’s text makes it clear that the emphasis on both Jew and Gentile is to now focus primarily on the Gentile.
God has not given up on the Jews, as individuals. But when Jews are saved today, they take their place among the Gentiles, almost as though they give up their Jewish heritage. Notice that I say ‘almost’. But the Gentiles – those who believe – are brought into a place that is much closer than the one enjoyed by the Old Testament Israelite. So we appreciate how our text tells us today that ‘they will hear it’. It happened in our experience, and in the experience of every person who has trusted Christ as Saviour.
In several thousand years of testimony, the Israelites did not export the worship of God very far. Apart from the dispersion of the Israelites after Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem, only tiny companies of Jews, and those who followed their religion, existed outside the land of Palestine. In our text, Paul is addressing one such small company in Rome. How much different is Christianity, which within a couple of centuries of the life of Christ was spread throughout the entire known world. How true the words of our text, that the salvation of God was being sent unto the Gentiles. Paul played a large part of that sending, as the the other apostles. Scattered by persecutions, Christians carried the message wherever they went, and zealous Gospel preachers boldly ventured to uttermost regions. How wonderfully the hand of God moved in sending the Gospel to the Gentiles! But He did not just send it to new areas of the world, He also sent it unto individuals like you and me. And now, He desires that we will be part of His great program of sending it to others.
Paul’s words are true: the Gospel was sent to us, and we heard it. And we will forever rejoice at the grace of God in this. -Jim MacIntosh